When you see the terms: Eco, Green, Environment Friendly, Sustainability, Renewable, what you are being told is that; suddenly every business on the planet cares about the environment and is prepared to tell you so.However, they are also prepared to lie to the back teeth and tell you their service/product is better than any other and, indeed is even helping the environment and combating global warming.Unfortunately the same old sales spiel is even conning governments to the point that they are handing out grants on get rich quick schemes that logic, and level headed scientists, will inform you just do not add up,from carbon credits to saving water, from switching everything off for an hour to driving eco cars.

If you just ponder the promises, then ponder on the facts, then ponder on the gibberish you will find the inevitable con. As I have explained about carbon credits previously, let me point out the illogical next ‘flavour of the month’… Saving water.

Point 1: There is as much water now as there ever was, in fact there is even more water as the de-glaciation of the arctic and Antarctic is slowly raising sea levels to the point that major land masses are in imminent threat of flooding.

Point 2: The atmosphere is holding more water as vapour than it held a hundred years ago due to the increased density of green house gasses.

Point 3:The hydrological cycle, which any school kid will tell you, carries on. Unfortunately, because of the increase of greenhouse gasses, floods are getting more prevalent and more severe. Those ‘once in hundred years’ flooding events are now as frequent as April showers.

Point 4: 25% of all water purified and pumped to your house is lost in leaks and corroded underground pipe work.

So let’s put a ‘hippo’ bag in our toilet cistern to save on water. Let’s have one of these duel flushing contraptions, where you have to flush two or three times to get your deposits to go away. Let’s all be metered, so water companies can charge us more, for using less.

Sustainability....To sustain: Maintain, Support or Endure.

Just what is it? Personally the more I read on the subject the more I am perplexed as to what we are supposed to be sustaining. Is it industry, manufacturing output or is it economic growth in general or is it population growth?

Whatever your choice, the fact is; in being ‘sustainable’ we are shock loading the nitrogen cycle, shock loading the water cycle, shock loading the carbon cycle to the extent of leading to unpredictable, dire consequences.

This often bandied around term ‘Sustainability’ is having a terrible effect on our ecosystem and its resilience and its ability to absorb our misdemeanours.

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Well, that said, the reality is; sustaining our way of life whilst maintaining our comforts, to support our hedonistic needs, for future generations to endure the consequences.

To me, the logic is like growing a ton of wheat on an acre of ground, then the population grows to the extent that five tones are needed to feed our comforts, then, some genius, genetically alters the wheat and another genius comes up with a super fertiliser, thus we grow eight tones to the acre. Unfortunately the population keeps growing and the situation is still illogicaly exponential.So, could someone explain to me how this sustainability thing works in real terms?